Saved Symbol changed from mils to millimeters!

Schematic Library Symbols
1

I am using version 5 for the first time. I created a new symbol from an old symbol with everything in mils. I saved the new symbol in the library. But when I reloaded the symbol into the editor, all the locations and sizes are shown in millimeters and there doesn’t seem to be any way to change it. This makes editing the symbol difficult because everything is odd numbers.

Is this a bug? What did I do wrong? Is there a work around?

2

Never mind. I expected the to find the units change function in the drop down menus - like under preferences. But apparently it is only on the tool bar. And the grid selection doesn’t change - it is always in mils regardless of the units selected. This further confused me.

3

Have you investigated the behavior of the toolbar buttons highlighted here:

Untitled

Dale

P.S. - You found the answer on your own while I was creating a pretty picture to post here.

4

It is also possible with the main menu View->Units -> (Imperial or Metric)

5

Just as a FYI:

  • KiCad internally stores all measurements in mm (down to nm I think).
  • Also, be very careful with the schematics. There is no such thing as an object snap, only grid snap. So, if a wire isn’t directly on the end of a pin, it won’t connect. (Same with all other electrical connections.) Make sure you draw your schematic on a similar grid that you design your symbols on.
  • For reference, all the standard library pins are on a 100mil grid, and the default drawing grid is 50mil.
  • Watch for circles on the ends of pins (indicating no connection) and square on wires and labels (also indicating no connection).

Good luck with your designs.

6

All pins of “large” symbols are on 100 mil grid.

Small devices (like a dual diode with 3 connections) are allowed to be on 50 mil grid.

7

Ok. I didn’t realize there were some (minor) exceptions to KLC S4.1 (I admit I just scanned through the KLC until I found that to double check my recollection of the grid for pin origins).

8

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